Why are acid base neutralization reactions exothermic? What does the strength of the acid have to do with it?
1 Answer
Acid base neutralization involves the formation of a salt and water. Such a process is inevitably exothermic.
Explanation:
Bond-breaking is endothermic, whereas bond formation is exothermic. Whether a given reaction is exothermic or endothermic depends on the balance between bond-breaking and bond-making.
In the generalized acid base reaction, as shown below, we form 2 substances, salt and water, whose formation should be intrinsically exothermic:
And for an obvious example...
The reaction is exothermic because we make strong